Going to California at Christmas for 3 weeks and starting to sort stuff out – who’s best for car hire based on a collection from and drop off at LAX?

Anyone had any experience, warnings, advice etc.

Ta.

Shop around all the big names.

Rent on US terms not UK terms (by going to the US sites), and use insurance4carhire.co.uk to cover your excess/CDW etc which doubles the hire cost and is a rip off. If you go on the UK sites sometimes they quote prices which include the CDW, cos most US car insurance policies cover people for car hire as well, unlike UK policies and hence they don’t ned it.

Also try expedia etc, see what comes up.

get the mustang not the camaro.

Did it in SF and it’s easy peasy.

Hardly any checking of ID and free upgrades just by asking…

Mol – can you explain what you mean – I have read your post several times but it doesn’t make sense to me!

I tend to get it from holidayautos as usually all the extra bollocks is thrown in. They also price match so you can shop around, get a good deal from someone who might not be particularly good and they’ll give you the same. Just remember when you’re tired, there’s LOADS of car on the right of you, none on the left. I almost always have a few near misses leaving the car park because of that 😉

holidaycarautos. Under 30 quid a day for pick up and drop off at LAX including ticking every insurance box they got.

So with that Holiday car Autos / Holiday Autos, do I still need the insurance cover Molgrips recommends?

Expedia is good for US car hire, insurances are all included (or were in December last year when I went) You can also get quidco cashback (10% currently on car hire)

IIRC correctly you get the best inclusive deals by doing a prepaid rental via the UK site. You pay before you go, like you would for the flight, rather than paying when you hand the car back.

The only companies I have used are Hertz and Avis, of which two Hertz are miles better

I hired this

from san fran and drove to las vegas. Booked it 2 days before online with budget. Can’t rememeber how much it was but a damn sight cheaper than dollar car hire. Looks like budget have a base at LAX airport

Just be careful about what insurance is included and what isn’t.

Also the hire car guys really love it if you make a joke about the steering wheel being on the wrong side and one of the pedals being missing.

do I still need the insurance cover Molgrips recommends?

I use this – http://www.insurance4carhire.com/

In simple terms it reduces your liability (excess) which you are exposed to from the car hire companies.
In practical terms it means that you can take the lowest insurance options available from the provider, safe in the knowledge that if you prang it, or it gets stolen, your excess insurance will cover the excess for you.

I paid £50 for an annual EU policy, which I also use for work. Considering maxing out on the insurance at the pickup point can add more than £10 per day to a rental, its excellent value for money IMHO.

Mol – can you explain what you mean

Right.. yes it was a bit rubbish, wasn’t it?

When you hire a car IN the US, you pay for hire and some mandatory insurances and taxes, which aren’t much. Most Americans are covered for car hire on their own policies so they don’t need it.

You aren’t covered though, so you have either risk a massive bill if you crash the car or buy their optional insurance. This is called CDW (collision damage waiver) and costs about the same as the car hire itself or a little less

Say you are paying $30 for car hire you might also be paying $20 per day CDW, which is a lot of money.

If you pay £99 for the insurance cover I mentioned above, you don’t need CDW. Car hire companies say they do not deal with third party insurance BUT you are still covered – they just ask you for the money and you ask the car hire company. I called them up to ask about this and they said they were happy not being directly dealt with.

PS that’s the same company geoffj links to. I think they are the only one, and they are targetted at exactly this, so they know the situation pretty well.

When you hire a car IN the US, you pay for hire and some mandatory insurances and taxes, which aren’t much. Most Americans are covered for car hire on their own policies so they don’t need it.

You aren’t covered though, so you have either risk a massive bill if you crash the car or buy their optional insurance. This is called CDW (collision damage waiver) and costs about the same as the car hire itself or a little less

Canada is exactly the same. Car hire company wanted to charge me $29.99CAN a day for insurance. We were hiring for 14 days so it would have been over $400.

I took the risk and only took the manadatory insurance, which was third party only.

I ran over a big rock in one of the national parks and dented one of the alloys so badly it wouldn’t hold air.

Cue much panic over an exorbitant bill for a replacement wheel. A couple of enquiries with some helpful locals and I got the wheel fixed at a repair shop in Calgary for $130. It was a 300km detour to Calgary from where we were but most Canadians drive further than that for a taco!.

In the end the rental company was none the wiser and the repair was still cheaper than the insurance.

But knowing about insurance4carhire.co.uk or similar would certainly have been useful before our holiday!

I’m going to LA and SF next week and my holidayautos booking says Ive got “Total Damage Excess Waiver”

For £4.50 per day, it covers all damage and all excesses on the car they book – that includes tyres, windscreen, underside and roof.
You still have to give a credit card imprint and accept that you are liable for the excess when you pick up the car; but if there is any damage, Holiday Autos will cover it. The main exclusion in the small print is if damage is caused through negligence on the part of the hirer. This might include drinking and driving or taking the car off-road.

More here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/columnists/2015529/Savvy-traveller-Dont-waive-goodbye-to-your-money.html

Thanks all – becoming much clearer now…